The present disclosure relates to patient support apparatuses, such as hospital beds. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to patient support apparatuses having mattress support decks that are movable between horizontal and chair egress positions.
Patient support apparatuses, such as hospital beds, that have articulated decks which move between horizontal and chair egress positions are known. The TOTALCARE® bed marketed by Hill-Rom Company, Inc. is one such bed. Beds are moved to the chair egress position to facilitate a patient's ability to egress from the bed and stand up in a manner similar to standing up from a chair. However, some patients may still have difficulty standing up from beds even when the beds are in the chair egress position. One reason for the difficulty, in some instances, is that the seating surface of the bed in the chair egress position may be too high or too low for the particular patient. In other instances, the difficulty may be created due to a seat region of a mattress being too soft such that the patient's immersion into the seat region presents an egress impediment. Accordingly, a need persists in improving bed features and functions that further facilitate patient egress from beds that have mattress support decks which are movable between horizontal positions and chair egress positions.